Fred Dakota Founded Native American Casinos—In A U.P. Garage
25 years ago, unemployed with five kids to feed, Fred Dakota got a hold of a casino license in Michigan and launched the first Native American casino in the country...from a garage in Keweenaw.
(page 5 of 5)
Dakota’s days in the gaming industry weren’t over, however, with the appeals decision that closed The Pines. The Lac View Desert band hired him to run its casino, and eventually Dakota was reelected chairman of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, so he had a hand in gaming there. Along the way, Dakota’s pugnacious approach led to other controversies that at times passionately divided the tribe, and eventually he became the target of a successful criminal prosecution by the federal government. Those controversies go beyond the scope of this story, and more important, they do not diminish
his role in setting the course of Native American gaming from his brother-in-law’s garage.
Looking back on those days of the garage casino, Brad says, “He didn’t ask permission, that was the single most important thing he might have done. He didn’t ask the BIA, he didn’t ask the state police, he didn’t ask the attorney general’s office. I don’t think Indian gaming would be what it is today if Fred Dakota had asked for permission.”
Fred Dakota still thinks occasionally of his friend Helene Walsh, the woman who suggested writing casino rules with the bingo rules. “She was a dear friend and she has since passed away, but I often think, What if she hadn’t said that that night,” he says.
Northern Michigan Casinos
Kewadin Casino
Christmas, 800-kewadin, kewadinchristmas.com • Hessel, 800-kewadin, kewadinhessel.com
Manistique, 800-kewadin, kewadinmanistique.com
Kewadin Casino Hotel and Convention Center
Sault Sainte Marie, 800-kewadin, kewadinsault.com
Kewadin Shores Casino
St. Ignace, Saint Ignace, 800-kewadin, kewadinstignace.com
Kings Club Casino
Brimley, 888-422-9645, 4baymills.com
Lac Vieux Desert Resort Casino & Golf Course
Watersmeet, 800-583-3599, lvdcasino.com
Leelanau Sands Casino
Suttons Bay, 231-534-8100, casino2win.com
Little River Casino Resort
Manistee, 231-398-9114, littlerivercasinos.com (under construction)
Odawa Casino Resort
Petoskey, 877-442-6464, odawacasino.com
Ojibwa Casino
Marquette, 906-249-4200, ojibwacasino.com
Baraga, 906-353-2274, ojibwacasino.com
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
Mount Pleasant, 888-7EAGLE7, soaringeaglecasino.com
Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel
Williamsburg, 800-922-2WIN, turtlecreekcasino.com
Jeff Smith is editor of Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine. smith@traversemagazine.com
Email
Print
Feed
